Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and, more particularly, to communications in a wireless network.
In wireless communication systems, a wireless device may include a transmitter and receiver for coupling to a wireless communications medium. The wireless device may consume power to operate a receiver even when the wireless device is not currently receiving a transmission. For some wireless devices, including battery-powered wireless devices, it is desirable to reduce power consumption as much as possible when the wireless device is not transmitting or receiving signals via the wireless communications medium.
Some wireless devices implement a power save mode or low power state to conserve power during idle periods. For example, in a power save mode, the wireless device may operate at a low power state for periods of time between beacon messages from an access point. The beacon messages from the access point may indicate to the wireless device that the wireless device should return to a normal power mode. Alternatively, a wireless device may alternate between a low power state and an active power state according to a fixed schedule configured by a network node. Configuration of the fixed schedule may cause unnecessary overhead if changed too frequently.